I recently watched the Nova episode on Watson, IBM's Jeopardy-playing AI. Since then, I've been thinking about the implications of strings of words. How would a computer interpret that sentence?

Without any context, it could as well be a Markovian nonsense string of words. Is this a demo video for modern art by the Irish Republican Army, who, since becoming a peaceful group, are now an artistic collective, and Glass Sex is the topic of their artwork? Is Ira Glass selling Sex Tape, a novel competitor to Mr. Zog's Sex Wax surfwax?posted by filthy light thief at 1:42 PM on October 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

Goddammit, now my grindcore band has to find a new name. Thanks a lot.posted by griphus at 1:43 PM on October 11, 2011 [27 favorites]

I could get lost in that man's beard for hours. *sigh*posted by drezdn at 1:51 PM on October 11, 2011

The voices are really interesting on this - I assume they're all imitations - and all of them except for Ira are spot on. I'm actually reconsidering whether they're all fake. Even the sound quality on the others is perfect, while Ira's is just awful.posted by odinsdream at 1:51 PM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Parody is supposed to be distinguishable from the thing being parodied.posted by rusty at 1:52 PM on October 11, 2011 [6 favorites]

I have a 39-song Spotify playlist with all of the overusedmoodmusic I could find. I like to listen to it on shuffle and feel my emotions swing from "sort of quirky and funny" to "overwhelming despair."posted by theodolite at 1:56 PM on October 11, 2011 [12 favorites]

I have a 39-song Spotify playlist with all of the overused yt mood yt music yt I could find. I like to listen to it on shuffle and feel my emotions swing from "sort of quirky and funny" to "overwhelming despair."

Oooh, I love this idea. I would love to get the MP3s from all of them.posted by odinsdream at 1:58 PM on October 11, 2011

I had to pause this at least twice, but I was able to get myself together and go on. It was worth it. Just. So. Wrong.posted by Xoebe at 2:02 PM on October 11, 2011

I'm at work, but when I get home I'll click. Oh how I'll click.

This makes me giggly, and... giddy for some reason: Fun Fact: The boyfriend in Lynda Barry’s popular story "Head Lice and My Worst Boyfriend" is Ira Glass.posted by Specklet at 2:02 PM on October 11, 2011

Thanks, theodolite, that playlist is great work background music...posted by twsf at 2:12 PM on October 11, 2011

If you listen to Marc Maron's podcast you'd know that not only does Ira have sex but he also gets black-out drunk in public and then vomits on himself.posted by photoslob at 2:15 PM on October 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

Fun Fact: The boyfriend in Lynda Barry’s popular story "Head Lice and My Worst Boyfriend" is Ira Glass.

For his part, Ira has copped to being the insufferable asshole he is portrayed as in that comic.

theodolite (or someone else with access to theodolite's playlist), is there a way you could cut-and-paste the Spotify playlist for those of us in countries who can't use it? There are a couple of the commonly used interstitial pieces from TAL that I've always wanted to hunt down.posted by dubitoergosum at 2:29 PM on October 11, 2011 [2 favorites]

Awesome - whoever played Alex Bloomberg has got him down pat.posted by adrianhon at 2:43 PM on October 11, 2011

The voices are really interesting on this - I assume they're all imitations - and all of them except for Ira are spot on. I'm actually reconsidering whether they're all fake. Even the sound quality on the others is perfect, while Ira's is just awful.
posted by odinsdream at 4:51 PM on October 11 [+] [!]

the SO and I are pretty sure that only Ira Glass was impersonated - everyone else was clever editting of their real voices. Note that only Glass mentions the sex tape itself.

The Ira Glass impersonator didn't have quite the same resonance as Ira Glass, but he had the intonation and style down almost perfectly. It was eerie -- and frankly, I was all embaressed in the middle because it sounded like Ira Glass. Or maybe it's just that talking about making a sex tape is funny, whereas impersonating real people having actual sex is creepy.posted by jb at 2:49 PM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is awesome even though I am maybe 'not in the moment enough' to fully understand all the nuances- and the lynda barry cartoon- total bonus! Hilarious. And now I am going to call all future bad boyfriends 'white katus'...even though no one else will think it's funny. Sigh.

Also...I didn't think intellectuals with nasal voices were sexy (even ones with the testosterone of 2 linebackers) but after all those glasses close-ups of Ira and those of his friends as well...well, I maybe just have changed my proverbial spots. And now I am also gonna worry that my head is itchy. Thanks again metafilter!posted by bquarters at 2:49 PM on October 11, 2011

Followed by the Car Talk guys laughing at you for an hour.

Thanks for ruining every remaining sexy time in my life.posted by cmoj at 2:50 PM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ira Glass is impersonated, everyone else is sound bites from the real people taken from various episodes.posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 2:51 PM on October 11, 2011

Careful. I'm pretty sure he's been lost in his own beard for over 40 years.posted by loquacious at 2:52 PM on October 11, 2011 [7 favorites]

Okay, I thought this was going to be tedious and stupid but I'm literally laughing out loud at my desk. Well played, well played. The samples make it perfect.posted by heresiarch at 2:55 PM on October 11, 2011

You know, it just seems like in life there are two kinds of people. There's the golden boys, you know, who seem to get what they want. And then—there are the other boys. There are the pizza boys. Starting next week here on WBEZ, we'll have two different radio pizza shops, different in name anyway. One will be run by the golden boy, and the other will be right here at eight o'clock. The Wild Room. With me. Gary Covino. Your radio pizza boy."

Oh, but the article posted by to sir with millipedes quoting his former radio partner paints a less rosy picture of Glass. Now I'm conflicted again. Hmm. Off for more Ira Glass wikipedia-ing.posted by bquarters at 3:00 PM on October 11, 2011

...and even though Ira Glass scours Missed Connections frantically for references to hipster glasses every time we say it, this is National Public Radio, you're listening to Car Talk.posted by 2bucksplus at 3:25 PM on October 11, 2011 [11 favorites]

Oooh. Ooooh. Do a Radiolab show about premature ejRadiolab show on. Premature. Oh my god you're finished? Ejacand then he was done. It was almostaculation. -musical break-posted by eyeballkid at 3:27 PM on October 11, 2011 [18 favorites]

"The Stamburgler" had me making that inhaling/snorting laugh.posted by benito.strauss at 3:41 PM on October 11, 2011

Is this something I would need a radio to understand? /HAMBURGER

kinda off topic, but does anyone know if we can either add tracks to a spotify playlist or crowdsource one? There are few tracks that I've sourced that aren't in Theodolites otherwise awesome playlist, and I'd love to put together a canonical TAL playlist...posted by gofargogo at 3:50 PM on October 11, 2011

also, shouldn't we point out that Ira Glass isn't an NPR host? He works for WBEZ, and the show is distributed by PRI

Diane Ream Kojo back to back! How does that work?posted by humanfont at 5:08 PM on October 11, 2011

Kasper Hauser is not funny. Not even a little bit.posted by runcibleshaw at 5:28 PM on October 11, 2011

At work recently, I was told by a member of the public that I sound like Terri Gross. I derived an unseemly amount of nerdly pleasure from this. I'd rather that she'd said that I displayed a Nina Totenberg-level of discernment but I'll take what I can get.posted by Morrigan at 5:47 PM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was hesitant, but that was spot on. Hysterical.posted by dejah420 at 5:54 PM on October 11, 2011

Totally worth it if only for, "or as I like to call it, your NPR member station."posted by gladly at 6:16 PM on October 11, 2011 [4 favorites]

Fun Fact: The boyfriend in Lynda Barry’s popular story "Head Lice and My Worst Boyfriend" is Ira Glass.

Why, oh why, did this relationship not work out? That makes 0 sense.posted by Miko at 7:07 PM on October 11, 2011

I am a huuuuuge public radio junkie. I have three radios in the house and all are tuned to NPR affiliates, as are the bottom 3 buttons in the car. I download podcasts from public radio networks and listen to them as I walk to the train and on the train on the way to work. I go on their websites and link their episodes on Facebook. I never miss an episode of TAL, even if I have to catch up on 5 or 6 in a couple of days. And yet, I didn't have the patience to stay with this parody. I respect the labor of love that went into it, and the phrasing, if not the tone, of the Ira impersonator, but I couldn't hang with it.

Ya know - I really hate that there's a public radio guy w/the name Ira, because I always keep thinking of Ira Flatow, and then of course I'm thinking ... Oh my goodness!posted by symbioid at 7:49 PM on October 11, 2011

is it weird that it started to get me hot by act 3?posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:10 PM on October 11, 2011

dubitoergosum: "theodolite (or someone else with access to theodolite's playlist), is there a way you could cut-and-paste the Spotify playlist for those of us in countries who can't use it? There are a couple of the commonly used interstitial pieces from TAL that I've always wanted to hunt down."

Thanks to theodolite for creating that playlist and to ocherdraco for creating it. I didn't realize Spotify required a Facebook account to even use it, so unfortunately that's out.posted by odinsdream at 8:43 PM on October 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

(and to ocherdraco for creating screenshotting it)posted by odinsdream at 8:43 PM on October 11, 2011

on the playlist tip: you can make it collaborative, so I'm gonna add some tracks that I've uncovered. If there are any others we're missing, let me know.posted by gofargogo at 8:46 PM on October 11, 2011

For a while there they really loved the Donnie Darko instrumental soundtrack.posted by The Whelk at 8:54 PM on October 11, 2011

Huh? It didn't require one a few weeks ago when I got it. Are you sure?

I couldn't find a way around it. I found a few blurbs and forum postings confirming that it's no longer optional.posted by odinsdream at 5:46 AM on October 12, 2011

Yeah, apparently Spotify now requires Facebook. It sitting was on my "check it out" list when I saw the announcement a few days ago, probably on Slashdot. Bummer.posted by benito.strauss at 6:08 AM on October 12, 2011

Thanks for the playlist theodolite, I was just thinking I'd like something like that the other day. And yeah, I fear the requirement for new subscribers to have Facebook (us existing ones don't need it) could be the death of Spotify. Hopefully I'm wrong.posted by chill at 9:50 AM on October 12, 2011

I've listened to about three minutes of it. His imitation of my writing and delivery are so dead-on, it was hard to keep listening and I stopped. If I had to articulate why, I think it was because hearing his version of me, made what I do on the air seem kind of dumb. And the impersonation was so good, I couldn't really pick a fight with it. So I had to decide, do I want to see myself as kind of trite and dumb? Seemed better to stop. Maybe I'll go back sometime.

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